MANNARINO Act Introduced in House: State-Level N2O Retail Limits, Commercial Kitchens Exempt

On August 27, 2026, Representatives Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced the MANNARINO Act (H.R. 10161) in the U.S. House of Representatives, a bipartisan bill that would use federal grant funding to push every state to restrict retail sales of nitrous oxide, including flavored products sold outside commercial channels. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce the same day. For foodservice operators and distributors, the key detail is written directly into the text: N2O used as a propellant for food products in commercial kitchens sits on the bill's explicit exemption list.

What Happened

The MANNARINO Act does not ban retail N2O sales at the federal level. Instead, it amends the Public Health Service Act and authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reduce a non-compliant state's community mental health block grant by up to 10 percent. The requirement would apply beginning with the third fiscal year after enactment, which gives states a multi-year runway to pass their own legislation.

To stay compliant, states would need to prohibit retail sales of flavored or scented N2O products and of other non-exempt N2O products. The bill text lists four exempt use categories:

• Medical, veterinary, or dental care
• Use as a propellant for a food product in a commercial kitchen
• Manufacturing processes and industrial operations
• Automotive purposes

The bill is named for John Robert Mannarino of Bridgewater, New Jersey, who died in November 2025 with nitrous oxide cited as a major contributing factor. Kean hosted a roundtable with the family, local officials, and health professionals on August 27, and a press release followed on August 28. Gottheimer framed the bill as a way to help states crack down on retail sales and to ban flavored versions marketed to kids.

Background

Federal attention on retail N2O sales has been building through 2025 and 2026, and several states have already tightened their own rules this year. A separate proposal, the Nitrous Oxide Safety Act, pursues a direct federal retail ban and received its first House hearing on July 22; we covered that hearing in an earlier report. The MANNARINO Act takes a different path: it leaves the banning to the states and uses funding as the lever. Both bills share the same carve-out logic, protecting culinary and other legitimate commercial uses.

What It Means for Foodservice and Wholesale Buyers

• Commercial kitchen use is explicitly protected. The food-propellant exemption is written into the bill text itself, covering exactly the cream charger and dispenser workflow used in cafes, bakeries, bars, and restaurants.
• Retail shelves may change before B2B supply does. If states comply, flavored and consumer-packaged N2O would exit general retail channels, while professional kitchens continue to buy through documented B2B suppliers.
• Expect more documentation requests. As state rules multiply, distributors and foodservice buyers should keep food-grade paperwork current: product specification sheets, batch Certificates of Analysis, and Safety Data Sheets.
• Nothing is law yet. The bill is introduced and referred to committee, with no vote scheduled. The third-fiscal-year timeline means even an enacted version would phase in over several years.

We manufacture food-grade N2O chargers and cylinders for culinary and beverage programs, and every order ships with batch-level documentation. If you are reviewing your compliance files ahead of state-level changes, browse our cream charger range or talk to us about wholesale supply with full paperwork.

Sources

• Congressman Tom Kean Jr. Official Website, Kean Hosts Roundtable on Preventing Nitrous Oxide Misuse, August 28, 2026
• GovInfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office), H.R. 10161 — MANNARINO Act, Full Bill Text, August 27, 2026
• WRNJ Radio, Congressman Kean hosts roundtable on nitrous oxide misuse, introduces bipartisan bill to restrict access, August 28, 2026